Last Friday night in Dry Fork, The Tunstall Trojans secured their spot in the postseason when they defeated the Bassett Bengals in a tightly contended 48-34 contest. For the Trojans, it’s their first playoff appearance since 2014 and their first under head coach David Potts. In addition, the hundreds of fans that were there that night also got to witness history in the making.

For only the third time in over 20 years, Tunstall got its 1,000-yard rusher. Running back Trevor Lovelace ran for 246 yards on 39 carries; which put him at 1,216 rushing yards for the regular season and gave him a grand total of 209 carries.

“It was always a goal to get a thousand yards,” said Lovelace “I feel like that it’s going to be better next year.”

Lovelace’s achievement was an surprise to many after he was sidelined with a hyperextended knee injury versus Dan River. His best performance during the regular season was against Patrick County; where he ran for over 250 yards

Not only did Tunstall get a 1,000-yard rusher, they also got a 1,000-yard passer. In the same time span as Lovelace’s accomplishment, Trojans quarterback Luke Buckner threw for a total of 1,138 yards while going 85 for 165 this season. It’s also the second time ever that a duo like Lovelace and Buckner was on the same team. Buckner wouldn’t have gotten it if it wasn’t for his outstanding 10-17, 173 passing yard performance. He also had four touchdown passes; three of them was to Ben Donahue and threw one to Malik Irvin.

Buckner’s best performance all year came in a loss verses George Washington; where he throw for more than 200 yards

“It’s an achievement that I thought I was never going to get to,” said Buckner “I was really just trying to do the best for my team and get some wins and to get back into the playoffs.”